Container body feeding means



Oct. 26, 1943- o. A. SCHMITT 2,332,672

coumnma Bony FEEDING MEANS Original Filed Nov. 10, 1939 3 sheets sheet I E:|.E.E.- l 2 42 5o 2'0 2 42 27 4 7 @E i' W Oct. 26, 1943.

o. A. SCHMITT CONTAINER BODY FEEDING MEANS Original Filed Nov. 10, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 26, 1943 CONTAINER BODY FEEDING.

. Otto A. Schmitt, Syracuse, N. Y1, assiggnor to Continental Can" Company; Inc., New York, N'. Y., a corporation of New York Original application October, 10., 1940, Serial. No. 360,669, which is a divisionof'apnlioation Serial No. 303,991, November 10, 1939, now Batent No. 2,?23339, July 13, 1943. Dividedand this application September 1, 1942-, ,Serial No. 456,937

Claims.

The invention relates generally to the art of manufacturing containers, of sheet, metal, or of a combination of sheet metal and. paper or. similar non-metallic body and end closure elements, and primarily seeks to provide certain new and useful: container body feeding equipmentsadaptable for. use incontainer body andlend'. closure assembling machines generally, andmore particularly in. the form of such machines disclosed in the co-pending application for U. S. LettersPatent SerialNumber 303,991, now Patent No, 2,323,939, issued. July 13, 1943. This. caseis a division. of the co-pending application for U. S; Letters Patent filed by saidOttov A. Schmitt on October 10, 1940, Serial, Number 360,669, which is in turn a division of the before mentioned. patent application.

An objectof. the invention istoprovide, a, can body feeding. equipment of the. character stated including a supporting table, means. for feeding the can bodies in proper spaced relation along the table, and means for vertically. adjusting the position of the table and feed means as aunit,

Another object of; the invention is, to provide a can body feedingequipment of. the character stated in which there is included: a top guard rail overlying the feeding. means; on the table, back check detents suspended from said rail, means for swingably mounting the. rail onthe table for movement of adjustment therewith, and means for vertically-adjustably mounting the rail and: its swingable mounting on said table for movementof adjustmentrelative to said table.

Another object of the invention is to provide a, can body feeding equipment of the character stated in which the feedi gmeans includes, a pair of rotary discs having opposededge portions equipped with limited length body gripping and accelerating sectors thereon effective for indi vidually feeding away can bodies presented in line thereto, anda reciprocable stop member for stopping can bodies in said line and positioning or'timing them for accelerated feed away engagement by said sectors.

Another object of the invention isto provide acan body feeding equipment of the character stated in which there is included novel means for mounting and imparting rotation to said discs whereby the spaced relation of the discs can be readily varied Without disrupting the driving connections therewith.

With the above and other objects in view-that will hereinafter appear, the nature of the inven the detailed description the appended; claims and the several"viewsillustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Inv the drawings:

Eigure i is afragmentary plan View illustrating the mounting of the can body accelerating discs.

Figure Z is a detail; verticalcross-sect ion taken n the lin :Zi0.n..Fi ur 1- Figure; 3iis a. detailverticallongitudinal section through the container body. feeding; table;

Figure 4 is a'horizontal; section taken through the table illustra ed in Figur 3; the secti n ing, talgen through the axis-ofthe table adjusting devices, and p ts. b ng how in p n ew.

Figure 5 is. a, detail vertical section taken onthe Knee-.5. on Fi ured. V The. an ody d in. mechanism. des table. 5' having. rigid y mu n edi, vertica ly posed hearinssfi. and; i th r on; The ver i b aring. members 6: and. 1; esnecti n Surrou a ve tica sha t. and" v i al. l e e. former inc ud ng a hr d d. part hre d i ec ived. a a ng; ll' statiqnarilv supncrted' on a portion f2 of the-main maohineframe and the latter includinga threaded portion lfl threadably received in a, bearing; M stationarilymounted on said frame portion. A'Wormwheel It is secured to each of the elements and 9;, and eachsaid worm wheel is. engaged by;'a worm gear Hi mountedon a short cross; shaft, l T-' rotatably sup ported in, a bearing' l8 and connected bya bevel pinion couple l9 with ajmanually operable: adjuster' shaft 20' rotatably supported in bearings 21. secured upon the table and equipped with a handwheel; 22. See Figures 3- and 4.

The rectangular container bodies or open-ended sleeves 23 are fed onto the tabl by laterally spaced feeder" chains 24} which pass over driver sprockets 2-5- secured upon a cross shaft 26 Bhis shaft rotatably supported at: the. front end of the table and: hasa driver sprocket Z 1: affixedi to one; end thereof and a. cam member: 2.8.2 afiixed: toits otherend. seelfi'isur a. 5. 8416; The rotating. cam member .28. dapt d alter ate. 1y lift; andl wer a roller 29.? and the end o the leveriflsto whichsaidr er afi xcd, he eter s; sprin rdepressed. and. Quo ed intermediate s. e ds.- as. at 31. on he table. Tnefmnt end ot the lever.- 30 is. link-connected as; at; 3,2 with. one arm. of a bellcrank lever 3.3; rockably supported a. earing, member. 3,4 vertically-adjustably se-. cured. at,the. front end or the table. and the. 11 6.12 arm of he. ell r n leve arries. a v rtically adjustable stop. member 35" adapted to be alternately projected" into and removed from" a. posi- 23 in the space between two laterally spaced\ housings 36 in the manner illustrated inFigures 1 and 2 of the drawings. Each housing member includes spaced wall portions 31 forming lateral guides for the traveling can bodies and is adjustably supported as at 38 so that the spaced relation of the housings can ,be varied. Beneath the housings the table is equipped with a pair of laterally aligned slideways 39 in each of which a bearing block 40 is slidably mounted. 'Each block 40 includes a vertically disposed bearing portion M in which is rotatably mounted a shaft member 42, and a horizontally disposed bearing portion 43 in which is rotatably mounted a sleeve 44 equipped with a bevel pinion 45,.said, sleeves surrounding and being spline-connected to'the cross shaft 26 hereinbefore referred to. Adjusting devices it are provided formoving the blocks 49 in the slideways 39, and by this" means the spaced relation of th shafts 42 can' be adjusted. A bevel pinion 41 is secured to the lower end of each shaft 42 and meshes with" the bevel pinion 45 of the adjacent sleeve 4'4, and by this means the rotation of the shaft 26' is imparted to the spaced vertical shafts 42. v

A feed wheel 48 for the cam bodies 23 is secured upon the upperend of each shaft 42, and each wheel carries a feeder segment 49 grooved at 50 to straddle the reducedrib 5| of the side guide wall portion 31 the manner illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings. Said feeder segments 49 cooperate inyieldably gripping and imparting accelerated feedmovement to the can bodies in the manner illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings. The can bodies 23 ar fed intothe machine in a continuousline by the chains 24, the line of cans being alternately, in-

tercepted and then releasedby the-verticallyoscillating stop member 35; Each timethe'stop 35 is moved up to release the can bodies the segments 49 engage the sidewalls of the foremost can body in the line and rapidly move it away from th line while the stop member is elevated and feeds it into the zone ofin'fluence of the other feeding devices of the table- Immediately after thefeeder segments have thus separated the foremost can body from the remainder of the line, the stop member 35 will descend and again intercept the line of can bodies. s

A feed bar 52 is reciprocably,mounted in a receiving grooveway 53-formed in the table and carries a fixed feedfinger 54 at itsfront end and equidistantly spaced series of spring-elevated feed fingers 55 throughout the remainderof its length. The feed bar is flanked-at its-respective sides with guiderails 56 which are adjustably. supported as at 51 on the table so that their spaced relation can be altered. A guardrail 58 is'disposed in spaced relationabove the feed bar and carries a plurality of gravity depressed back check fingers 59 which function to hold can bodies in the positions to which they have been fed each time the feed bar is retracted fora new feeding stroke. The guard rail also includes a springdepressed back check finger 60 disposed in 00- operative relation above the fixed finger54 and which is displaced by each can body as it is rapon a shaft 61 rotatably sup-ported in a vertically disposedbearing 68 in the frame l2 and the spur gear-56 meshes with a spur gear 59 secured upon ashaft 1| splined in the gear 69 and rotatablev in and vertically movable with the screw sleeve fi hereinbefore referred to. The shaft 19 carries a spur gear II at its upper end which includes an off-center crank pin 72 on which a crank member 13 and an integral or rigidly connected pinion .14 are rotatably mounted. The pinion 74 meshes with the internal ring gear 15 which is fixedly mounted as at 16 on the table.

The crank member 73 is connected by an adjustablel'link ll with a bracket member 18secured to and depending from the feed bar 52."

The pinion 14' is so proportionedwith relation to the ring gear within which it meshes that as it is rotated aboutwithinsaid ring gear the position" of the crank member 13.willfconstantly be altered so that its pivotal connection with the link Tl will always move in a straightj'line centered on the feed bar slideway and by this means the rotary motion of the vertically disposed shaft H1 is transmitted in the form of the desired straight line reciprocation to the feed bar 52 v 5 .o

The spur. gear H meshes with a pinion is mounted on a shaft rotatable in a vertically disposed bearing secured, upon the table and connected by a bevel gear couple 8| with a shaft 82 having rotative bearing in a portion of the same bearing member 80 and in a bearing 83 secured as at 84 on the table. .The bearing 83 also rotatably supports a short shaft 85 which is bevel gear coupled as at 86 with the shaft 82 and carries a driver sprocket which is chain'- connected as at 8'! with the shaft 25 hereinbefore referred to for the purpose of imparting rotation to the shaft 26. See Figures '1, 2, 3,

and 4 of the drawings.

r The guard rail 58 is'supported on a bracket arm 88 which is pivotally mounted as at 89 on a standard 90 verticaIIy-sIidabIy secured as at 9! on the table in the manner illustrated in Figure 5 of the drawings. of the standard 9!] may be effected through the medium of an adjuster screw 92 which is threaded through a lug portion of the standard and engages an abutment-block 93 afiixed to the table. It will be obvious by reference .toiFigure 5 that the can body guiding rails 56 can be adjusted laterally to accommodate can bodies of different sizes, and this adjustment can be accompanied by a vertical adjustment-of the guard rail 58. The guard rail 58 mayalso be freely swung upwardly about its piyotal mounting89.

It is of course to be understood that the details of structure and arrangementof parts may be variously changed and modified without de:

parting from the spirit tion.

Iclaim: I 1. In a machine of the character-described, a container body feed table comprising-a table structure having slideways thereon, a reciproand scope of the invencable feed bar for moving bodies alongthe table in spaced relation, an infeed conveyor for feed- Vertical adjustment asaactza ing bodies in line toward thefeedrbar, opposed rotarydisks having limited length body-grip: ping andcaccelerating sectors thereon effective for individually delivering bodies from: the. conveyor to the feed bar, a. reciprocable stopunemher for stopping bodies-on the conveyoreand: timing them for proper feeding n a ement, by saidv sectors, and means. for imparting movement. to, the feed b-ariand the conveyor and-for dis,- placing the stopmember during each interval .ofbody feeding efiectivenessaof: said sectors.

2. In a machineof the character described, a; container body feed table comprising-ratable structure having, s1idewaysthereon, a recipro cable, feed. bar for moving bodies along the. tabl in, spaced relation, an infeed conveyor, for feed.- ing bodies in line, towardathe-feedi bar, opposed:

ry dis s having limited IBI g hFbQ V El Pr" p s; and ccelerating; sectors th reqn; ffective.

for individually delivering bodies from the conveyor to'the feed bar, a reciprocable stop member for stopping bodies on the conveyor and timing them for proper feeding engagement by said sectors, means for imparting movement to the feed bar and the conveyor and for displacing the stop member during each interval of body feeding effectiveness of said sectors, and means for adjusting the spaced relation of the rotary disks.

3. In a machine of the character described, a container body feed table comprising a table structure having slideways thereon, a reciprocable feed bar for moving bodies along the table in spaced relation, an infeed conveyor for feeding bodies in line toward the feed bar, opposed rotary disks having limited length body gripping and accelerating sectors thereon effective for individually delivering bodies from the conveyor to the feed bar, a reciprocable stop member for stopping bodies on the conveyor and timing them for proper feeding engagement by said sectors, means for imparting movement to the feed bar and the conveyor and for displacing the stop member during each interval of body feeding effectiveness of said sectors, a top guard rail overlying and vertically spaced from said slideways and supporting back check detents engageable by the container bodies, and means vertically-adjustably and swingably mounting said top guard rail.

4. In a machine of the character described, a container body feed table comprising a table structure having slideways thereon, a reciprocable feed bar for moving bodies along the table in spaced relation, a top guard rail overlying and vertically spaced from said slideways and supporting back check detents engageable by the container bodies, and means vertically-adjustably and swingably mounting said top guard rail.

5. In a machine of the character described, a container body feed table comprising a table structure having slideways thereon, a reciprocable feed bar for moving bodies along the table and the conveyor and for displacing the stop member during each interval of body feeding effectiveness of said sectors, and means for vertically adjusting the position, of. the whole feed table, .1

6. In a machine of :the character; described a containerbody feed table comprisinga table. structure having slideways. ther ecn ,,-,a recipror cable feed bar for moving, bodies; along the, table,- mspaced relation, aninfeed; conveyor for feeding bodies in. line toward; the; "feed b r, opposed rotarydisks having limited; length body ripping, and. accelerating sectors thereonefiective for in,- dividuallydelivering bodies from. the conveyor to, the feedban, areciprqcable stop; member for stopping bodies'on the conveyor .andtiming them forproper feeding engagement, by said sectors, means for imparting movement to the feed, ban and the-zconveyor and. for displacing the stop member during-each interval of body feedings effectiveness'of said sectors, means for vertically adjusting the position; of the whole feed table, a

, topa'guard; raili overlying and: verticallyspaced from; said; slideways and supporting; back check detents engageable by the container bodies, and

means for vertically-adjustably and swingably mounting said top guard rail on the table.

'7. In a machine of the character described, a container body feed table comprising a table structure having slideways thereon, a reciprocable feed bar for moving bodies along the table in spaced relation, an infeed conveyor for feeding bodies toward the feed bar, opposed rotary disks having limited length body gripping and accelerating sectors thereon effective for individually delivering bodies from the conveyor to the'feed bar, a recipro-cable stop member for stopping bodies on the conveyor and timing them for proper feeding engagement by said sectors, means for imparting movement to the feed bar and the conveyor and for displacing the stop member during each interval of body feeding effectiveness of said sectors, means for vertically adjusting the position of the whole feed table, and including a pair of vertical captive screws and a common means for simultaneously rotating both screws.

8. In amachine of the character described, can body receiving feedways, means for feeding can bodies in line toward said feedways, opposed rotary disks having limited length .body gripping and accelerating sectors thereon effective for individually delivering can bodies from said feeding means onto said feedways, a reciprocable stop member for stopping can bodies at the position of the disk and timing them for proper feeding engagement by said sectors, a transversely disposed driver shaft, a support, a rotary shaft secured to each disk, a bearing member rotatably supporting each disk shaft, means slidably supporting each bearing member on said support, and a driver sleeve rotatably supported on each bearing member and splined on the driver shaft and bevel gear coupled with the respective disk shaft, whereby rotation of the driver shaft will be transmitted to the disks and the spaced relation of the disks can be altered by sliding the bearing members toward or from each other on their slide mountings.

9. In a machine of the character described, can body receiving feedways, means for feeding can bodies in line toward said feedways, opposed rotary disks having limited length body gripping and accelerating sectors thereon effective for individually delivering can bodies from said feed- .ing means onto said feedways, a reciprocable stop engagement by said sectors, a transversely disposed driver shaft, a support, a rotary shaft secured to each disk, a bearing member rotatably supporting each disk shaft, means slidably supporting each bearing member on said support, and a driver sleeve rotatably supported on each bearing member and splined on the driver shaft and bevel gear coupled with the respective disk shaft, whereby rotation of the driver shaft will be transmitted to the disks and the spaced rela-- tion of the disks can be altered by sliding the bearing members toward or from each other on their slide mountings, said can body feeding nieans being mounted in part on said transverse driver shaft.

10. In a machine of the character described, a container body feed table having slidaways thereon, a reciprocable feed bar for moving can bodies along the table, and means for imparting reciprocatory movement to the feed bar comprising a vertically disposed rotary driver shaft, 2. driving rotor on said shafthavlng a crank pin projecting ofi-center therefrom, a pinion freely-rotatably mounted on the crank pin, a crank arm secured to :the pinion for rotation therewith, a

stationarily mounted'internal ring gear disposed concentrically with relation to the driver shaft and meshing with the pinion for imparting rotation to the pinion and crank as the driver shaft is rotated, means link connecting the crank in drivingrelation with the feed bar for imparting straight line movement to the latter, means for vertically adjusting the positio'n of the whole O'I'IO A. SCHMITT. I 

